The Secret
by Kat-Knife
Summary: Once Upon a time, in the land where magic was born, lived the most noble and wise of all the creatures that roamed the wanton wilderness... A tale of the universal secret that binds us all. Written for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, Finals Round 1.


Magical Creature: Mermaid

* * *

Once upon a time, in the land where magic was born, lived the most noble and wise of all the creatures that roamed the wanton wilderness. This creature was a centaur and he knew - or at least he thought he knew - all the secrets and stories that that ever walked, jumped or leaped upon this land as well as all the secrets and stories that flew through the balmy skies.

At first he believed himself to be happy with the knowledge he contained and was content. As the years passed, the light in his eyes dimmed as everything he knew would come to pass did. He watched in sorrow as the wars he had predicted came true and the bloodshed and gore continued in a never ending cycle. He was tired, tired of living but not living. Tired of knowing and not being able to do anything. He lived in a world that he could not actively participate in, just gaze upon with almost omniscient eyes.

The centaur, now old and gray, with bristles in his once dapper coat, decided that he could not continue this half-existence, that he wanted more than this. He set upon a quest of his own making to discover the one secret or story that he had never heard of before. One tale that surpassed all the rest with its originality, its honesty, and its depth.

He journeyed through the Forbidden Forest - forbidden for humans - meeting and talking with the many enchanting creatures that called the forest their home. He met with acromantulas and with Agragog, the King of them all and listened to his tale. He was impressed with the heartbreaking and beautiful story of an awkward half-human boy that had befriended a creature that many believed to be a monster. Alas, he had heard this story a million times before, when scouring the heavens. The story of friendship was universal and practiced by all. It was nothing new and had been forged in the blackest of the night between two clandestine enemies and sealed with a promise of empathy.

The centaur continued on his journey and met another creature, one that led the loneliest existence of all, a dementor. The dementor told him the tale of death, the beauty behind the grim mask that death wore. Death was a shimmering and beautiful thing that many feared because of its uncertainty and its sacrifice. The centaur listened patiently to the tale, but was disappointed yet again. The chaste kiss of death upon the brow of life was natural and nothing novel.

Again the centaur thanked his patient storyteller and journeyed on, coming across many more creatures. He listened to tales of innocence, jealousy, betrayal, deceit, lies, revenge... the list continued on and on. The centaur had listened to stories of all the beings that lived in the vast forest and not one of them had been different. The centaur had heard the same old stories, again and again, from the sibilant tones of supremely powerful creatures such as basilisks to the softly humming and quiet voices of simple beings like flobberworms. All the tales and secrets that had been revealed to him were made from the same fabric, perhaps dyed a different hue at times, but almost identical to the naked eye.

The centaur was frustrated; he knew that his hour was almost up and the elixir of life was slowly seeping from his veins, the fire within his heart dying to glowing embers. He had lived a long life and tomorrow was the day that he would bid this world farewell and welcome what lay beyond.

The centaur walked to the edge of a lake in the forest, his shoulders sagging with the weight of what he knew, his feet rasping across the sandy ground.

_Lately I been, I been losing sleep_

_Dreaming about the things that we could be __  
_

The centaur lifted his head and listened in growing curiosity as he heard a breathy voice singing under the moonlight.

_I see this life_

_Like a swinging vine_

_Swing my heart across the line_

The centaur looked around, trying to place the source of the sound and spotted a wondrous creature, one that he had never met in all of his wanderings, a mermaid. She sat on a lone rock in the middle of the lake, crooning to the moon in honeyed tones.

_I feel something so right_

_By doing the wrong thing_

_And I feel something so wrong_

_By doing the right thing_

The centaur hesitated to disturb the mermaid who was wholly absorbed in a dream world of her own making, but he hoped that she perhaps held the answer to his quest.

"Madam, I hesitate to disturb you, but would you mind answering a question for me?" He tentatively called out to the lone figure.

The mermaid turned around in surprise, her eyes flashing in fear before she realised who was addressing her. She was not beautiful by any means, her teeth were mossy green and crooked in the dim light, her nose shaped like a small bulbous potato, her eyes a dull brown and set far too close together, in short, she was the epitome of one of the ugliest creatures that he had ever had the pleasure of meeting.

"What is that you want?" She rudely answered him, her face morphing from the tranquil expression that she'd had before to an unbecoming scowl.

"I want you to tell me your story, a story that is different from any other story in this world." He told her earnestly, undeterred by her rude tone or the thunderous expression on her face.

Her eyes turned pensive and she bit her lip in thought as she considered his query. Finally she answered him, "I don't have a story to tell you that you haven't already heard before."

"What do you mean?" He asked her in bemusement, taken aback by her frank answer.

"Magic itself is a story and all of the individual stories of the collective magical population make up the story of the world. There is no unique story or secret. We are all part of the story, one vibrantly coloured thread that is woven into the tapestry of all that existed and all that will exist."

The centaur contemplated her answer and realised the truth of her statement. She was undeniably correct and he had found the one story that he had never heard of before, hers.

He turned to thank the mermaid and found that the rock she occupied was gone. He thanked the empty air and left, content that he had fulfilled his quest and could now continue his adventure on the other side of the veil.

The End


End file.
